Hinge component blank made from a rolled or drawn profiled material strip

ABSTRACT

In a hinge-part blank made from a rolled or drawn profiled strip of stock that is separated into the individual hinge-part blanks by beam-cutting along an oblique boundary line (I) followed by parting along a parting line (II), the profiled strip of stock has a T- or Y-shaped cross section and is separated into the individual hinge-part blanks by beam-cutting along the boundary lines (I) and the parting lines (II) and is separated at that time in the region of the hinge head ( 7  or  8 ) by means of a saw cut along a parting line (III).

The invention relates to a hinge-part blank made from a rolled or drawnprofiled strip of stock.

Known from DE 195 09 674 C2 is a hinge blank consisting of a firsthinge-part blank and a second hinge-part blank and a method for itsproduction, wherein the corresponding rolled or drawn profiled strip hasa profile that corresponds to the desired hinge-part blank and theindividual hinge-part blanks are separated into the individualhinge-part blanks by being severed along predetermined boundary andparting lines.

During the development of this hinge-part blank and the productionmethod provided for it, it was found that although the quality of thesurfaces produced by beam cutting was good enough for the outer boundarylines of the hinge-part blanks, the quality of the surfaces formed bybeam cutting along the parting lines and constituting the mating slidingsurfaces of the finished hinge were [sic] sometimes inadequate for thispurpose in terms of surface quality.

Furthermore, the ability to choose the design of the hinge-part blank islimited for functional reasons by the type of nesting set forth in DE 19509 674 C2.

With hinge-part blanks made by the above-cited known production method,it was therefore necessary to subject these mating sliding surfaces tofurther machining, thus increasing the production cost of the finishedhinge.

The object of the invention is not only to be able to produce ahinge-part blank from rolled or drawn profiled strips of stock at lowercost by eliminating such additional machining, but also to allow greaterfreedom of design of the hinge-part blank due to the different type ofnesting.

This object is accomplished according to the invention in that for ahinge-part blank made from a rolled or drawn profiled strip of stock, aspecial cross-sectional shape is provided for the profiled stock incombination with a novel nesting arrangement and a different sequence ofsevering steps.

The fact that the profiled strip has a T- or Y-shaped cross section,which is separated in the region of the hinge head by, for example, asevering cut made with a saw along a parting line III, and the hingefastening leaves and hinge brackets are separated into individualhinge-part blanks by severing them along boundary lines I and partinglines II, makes it possible for the hinge-part blanks to be produced ina cost-effective manner with great freedom of design of the blanks.

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to an exemplaryembodiment depicted in the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an oblique view of a profiled strip of stock for a hinge-partblank according to the invention in the novel T or Y shape with thecorresponding boundary lines and parting lines, and

FIG. 2 is the cross section of the profiled strip of stock according tothe invention, showing the severing lines.

FIG. 1 shows a rolled or drawn profiled strip for a body-side hinge-partblank of a motor-vehicle door, the nesting of the hinge-part blank beingdone in such a way that a hinge-part blank 1 and a hinge-part blank 2are nested such that their respective fastening leaves 3 and 4 with therespective brackets 5 and 6 for the respective hinge eyes 7 and 8 toreceive the hinge pin are disposed in the manner of a T-shaped orY-shaped bar, yielding particular advantages in terms of the design ofthe hinge-part blanks and the guidance of the various severing cuts.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, openings 9 for the securing pins are provided andindicated in fastening leaves 3 and 4, and a bore 10 to receive thehinge pin (not shown) is provided and indicated in hinge heads 7 and 8.Said openings 9 can be made either before the severing cuts or not untilafter the profiled strip of stock furnishing the hinge-part blanks hasbeen separated into the individual hinge-part blanks, specifically byappropriate severing, punching or drilling.

The beam cuts made to separate fastening leaves 3 and 4 extend alongboundary lines I and brackets 5 and 6 are severed by beam-cutting alongparting lines II, whereas hinge heads 7 and 8 are severed by means of asaw cut III which yields at that time the desired quality of the slidingsurface in the region of the hinge pin. (The contour of the saw bladeused for this purpose is indicated in FIG. 2.)

In FIG. 2, the corresponding cuts are also shown with the same referencenumerals for the beam-cut boundary lines I, the parting beam lines IIand the sawcut line, designated as III.

This nesting concept can be used equally well for body-side and fordoor-side hinge parts, a right and a left hinge-part blank being madesimultaneously from one profiled strip.

Owing to the geometry of a door-side hinge-part blank (not shown), cutII can optionally be eliminated.

In general, the T- or Y-shaped nesting method permits flexibility ofdesign of the hinge parts with the use of various parting methods toachieve the desired surface quality for the part at predefined pantingplanes.

Characteristic of the invention is its suitability for the low-wasteproduction of hinge-part blanks from an initially multi-legged profiledstrip. To accomplish this, the fastening leaf of a first hinge-partblank is separated from a first leg of the profiled strip of stock andthe fastening leaf of a second hinge-part blank is separated from asecond leg of the profiled strip of stock.

Disposed in a further leg of the profiled strip of stock are the hingeheads 7, 8, which are separated from this leg by a cut made along lineIII, said cut running rectilinearly and vertically to the longitudinalextension of the profiled strip of stock.

The first or second hinge-part blank is then separated from the first orsecond leg of the profiled strip of stock by a freely adjustable cutalong line I of the first or second hinge-part blank.

FIG. 1 further shows that the additional leg has a web profile betweenthe hinge head 7 and the place where it joins the first and second legs,from which profile the respective brackets 5 and 6 of the first andsecond hinge-part blanks are produced by severing the additional leg(directed rearward in the drawing) by means of an additional cut alongline II. The path of the cut is theoretically also freely adjustable.

In particular, FIG. 1 shows a path for cut II that runs rectilinearlyand vertically to the longitudinal extension of the profiled strip ofstock.

It will be readily appreciated from FIGS. 1 and 2 that in each case aplurality of the rectilinearly extending cuts along line III and aplurality of any additional freely adjustable cuts along line I can bemade simultaneously, so that a large number of hinge-part blanks can befinished simultaneously in this manner.

In addition, FIG. 1, in particular, shows that the fastening leaves ofthe hinge-part blanks are nested together in their respective assignedlegs of the profiled strip of stock, so that they can be parted along acommon path line. This produces the advantage that only one severing cutneed be made to produce any two adjacent fastening leaves. Thisadvantage is achieved by the fact that the mutually confronting contourlines of two adjacent fastening leaves correspond to with each other asa positive and a negative contour.

If the angle between the additional leg that is directed rearward inFIG. 1 and at least one of the first and second legs is at least 90°,the severing cut for making the hinge-part blanks from the first orsecond leg can be guided through the stock of the profiled strip withoutcolliding with the additional common leg, so that practically no wasteis generated in the production of the hinge-part blanks.

The cut along line II may be made by sawing, milling or beam cutting.Numerically controlled beam-cutting is preferred in view of thepractically waste-free conduct of this method. The cuts along lines Iand II may be made by a beam-cutting method, such as watedjet cutting,abrasive waterjet cutting, plasma cutting, and laser cutting.

The bore 10 on the hinge head is advantageously made after theindividual cuts I, II and III. Said bore 10 is at the end of the hingehead that originally faces away from the first and second legs of theprofiled strip of stock.

The openings 9 used to fasten the hinge parts in installed condition arealso advantageously not made until after the severing cuts I, II andIII.

These measures offer the advantage of easy handling of the parts forfurther processing.

Further, it can be seen from the depiction of FIG. 1 that the thicknessof the hinge head 7 is about half as great as the widthwise dimension,in the same direction, of fastening leaf 3 or 4 cut respectively fromthe first or second leg.

Also of particular advantage is a cutting path for cut III that runsrectilinearly and vertically to the axis of the preferably subsequentlymade bore 10, since the cut surface can then also form the sliding planeof the hinge, which ensures the exact guidance of the vehicle door at apreset height.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hinge part blank assembly comprising aplurality of hinge part blanks integral with each other, each of saidhinge part blanks being adapted to serve as at least one of a motorvehicle body side hinge and a motor vehicle door side hinge, theassembly having a selected one of a Y-shaped configuration and aT-shaped configuration, each of said hinge part blanks comprising aplurality of leaf portions, each extending from a bracket portion, eachof said leaf portions having openings therein for receiving securingpins and each of said bracket portions having a bore therein forreceiving a hinge pin, a first group of said leaves being aligned tofrom a first leg of the selected configuration of blank assembly, asecond group of said leaves being aligned to form a second leg of theselected configuration of blank assembly, and the bracket portionsextending from the leaves of the first and second legs being in a singlealignment to form a third leg of the selected configuration of blankassembly, the blank assembly being divisible and separable to provideindividual ones of the motor vehicle body side and motor vehicle doorside hinge parts.
 2. The assembly accordance with claim 1 wherein eachthe individual hinge parts comprises one of said leaf portions integralwith one of the bracket portions.
 3. The assembly in accordance withclaim 2 wherein the assembly is divisible and separable along linessusceptible to cutting so as to provide equally configured hinge parts,each having an equally configured leaf portion and an equally configuredbracket portion.
 4. The assembly in accordance with claim 2 wherein theassembly is divisible and separable along lines susceptible to cuttingso as to obtain from a first hinge part blank equally configured hingeparts and from a second hinge part blank equally configured hinge parts,the hinge parts from the first hinge part blank being different inconfiguration from the hinge parts from the second hinge part blank.